NEW DELHI: S. Harvinder Singh Phoolka was a budding lawyer when the 1984 riots took place. While he somehow escaped the rioters on the evening of October 31, his house was attacked on November 2. But for his Hindu landlord who hid him and his pregnant wife in his storeroom, he would have probably not lived to oversee numerous cases related to the riots in the quarter of a century since.
But despite the trauma he underwent, there is no sign whatsoever of anger or frustration in his face as he speaks about his experience sitting in his Delhi High Court chamber. That in 25 years only a few have been punished for the riots and deliberate attempts have been made to protect the influential accused has only strengthened his resolve to keep fighting.
“There is no frustration, you are in the system. You only remember what you have achieved and forget the rest. The silver lining is that we have kept the issue alive for 25 years just as if it only happened yesterday. We got an apology from the Prime Minister 21 years after the incident, resignation of a Minister [Jagdish Tytler] 21 years after the incident and compensation to all the victims 22 years after the incident. This all was possible because of the constant follow-up,” he says.
“Now we know we cannot get complete justice and so we want symbolic justice. The 1984 riots should not go down in history as a large-scale heinous crime in which no justice was delivered,” Mr. Phoolka says. What motivates him nevertheless is that more remains to be done in the case. “Now we are looking for prosecution of Sajjan Kumar, which has been recommended by the CBI to the government in four cases registered against him.”
As for Mr. Jagdish Tytler, he says: “Though we have not been able to secure punishment for him in a court of law, we succeeded in getting political punishment for him. This was a result of total support from the media and the public which we lacked in the beginning. It was only after Gujarat that things changed and now the media and the people are with us.”
Mr. Phoolka regrets that from day one attempts were made to protect the powerful culprits while the victims were further victimised. His book, When a Tree Shook Delhi: The 1984 Carnage and its Aftermath, draws from the speech of then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi who had stated that the earth shakes when a big tree falls.
Mr. Phoolka also makes a mention of how several police officers who failed to protect the lives and property of the victims later got promotions and were rewarded.
According to Mr. Phoolka, about 80 per cent of the affected families have started life afresh. “Many of them were very well off in 1984. In these 25 years, while the world has moved much ahead, these families have not been able to keep pace.”
The social aspect of the tragedy is much large. “In families that lost their earning members, the women were forced to take up work. And in the absence of any parental control, about 30 per cent of the children fell into the habit of drugs. Also, women who were not so educated were given jobs of peons and gardeners in place of the earning members who worked in better positions. This resulted in overall decline in the family’s standard of living.”
But despite the trauma he underwent, there is no sign whatsoever of anger or frustration in his face as he speaks about his experience sitting in his Delhi High Court chamber. That in 25 years only a few have been punished for the riots and deliberate attempts have been made to protect the influential accused has only strengthened his resolve to keep fighting.
“There is no frustration, you are in the system. You only remember what you have achieved and forget the rest. The silver lining is that we have kept the issue alive for 25 years just as if it only happened yesterday. We got an apology from the Prime Minister 21 years after the incident, resignation of a Minister [Jagdish Tytler] 21 years after the incident and compensation to all the victims 22 years after the incident. This all was possible because of the constant follow-up,” he says.
“Now we know we cannot get complete justice and so we want symbolic justice. The 1984 riots should not go down in history as a large-scale heinous crime in which no justice was delivered,” Mr. Phoolka says. What motivates him nevertheless is that more remains to be done in the case. “Now we are looking for prosecution of Sajjan Kumar, which has been recommended by the CBI to the government in four cases registered against him.”
As for Mr. Jagdish Tytler, he says: “Though we have not been able to secure punishment for him in a court of law, we succeeded in getting political punishment for him. This was a result of total support from the media and the public which we lacked in the beginning. It was only after Gujarat that things changed and now the media and the people are with us.”
Mr. Phoolka regrets that from day one attempts were made to protect the powerful culprits while the victims were further victimised. His book, When a Tree Shook Delhi: The 1984 Carnage and its Aftermath, draws from the speech of then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi who had stated that the earth shakes when a big tree falls.
Mr. Phoolka also makes a mention of how several police officers who failed to protect the lives and property of the victims later got promotions and were rewarded.
According to Mr. Phoolka, about 80 per cent of the affected families have started life afresh. “Many of them were very well off in 1984. In these 25 years, while the world has moved much ahead, these families have not been able to keep pace.”
The social aspect of the tragedy is much large. “In families that lost their earning members, the women were forced to take up work. And in the absence of any parental control, about 30 per cent of the children fell into the habit of drugs. Also, women who were not so educated were given jobs of peons and gardeners in place of the earning members who worked in better positions. This resulted in overall decline in the family’s standard of living.”
